Egypt Completes 2018-19 Borrowing

Egypt has raised a €2bn ($2.26bn) two-tranche international bond which attracted book orders of over €9bn ($10.15bn), completing its borrowing needs for the 2018-19 financial year, the Finance Ministry announced on 5 April. The first tranche of €750mn ($846mn) matures on 11 April 2025 with a yield of 4.750% while the second tranche of €1.25bn ($1.41bn) is redeemable on 11 April 2031 with a yield of 6.375%. Given the strong market appetite for the bond, the ministry says that its pricing was more favorable than originally anticipated. Ratings agency Fitch last month upgraded Egypt’s long-term credit rating, although it remains four notches below investment grade (MEES, 29 March).

This is the second Euro-denominated bond issue after Egypt’s first bond of €2bn sold in April 2018. The book runners for the latest issue were BNP Paribas, Natixis, Standard Chartered Bank and Alexbank, a subsidiary of Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo Group. (CONTINUED - 216 WORDS)